WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Washington Wizards captured their
first four-game winning streak in nearly three years with an
89-82 victory over the struggling Phoenix Suns.

Washington had not won more than three in a row since closing
the 1997-98 season with four straight wins.

The Wizards trailed 69-64 with seven minutes left but climbed
back in it led by six points in three minutes from Richard
Hamilton. Washington took a 78-76 lead when Tyrone Nesby sank a
free throw to complete a three-point play with 2:35 remaining.

Washington never relinquished the lead and made 9-of-10 free
throws in the final two minutes to put away the game.

"The confidence and poise we showed shows how far we have come
mentally," Washington coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I didn't see
anyone display any type of doubt whether or not we felt we can
win the game, and that is significant."

Following Nesby's three-point play, Clifford Robinson made
1-of-2 free throws at the other end, but Hamilton responded with
a 17-foot jumper to open a three-point lead.

Rodney Rogers sank two free throws and Jahidi White got one back
at the line to make it 81-79 with 1:39 to go.

Robinson committed a costly turnover on the Suns' next
possession and, after both teams missed 3-pointers, Whitney got
a favorable bounce on a running jumper that extended the lead to
83-79.

"We made the stop and came down and the shot was there and I had
confidence in myself that I was going to make it," Whitney said.
"I felt the three I missed before that was the one that put the
game out of reach."

Rogers missed an ill-advised 3-pointer and the Wizards made four
free throws around a desperation 3-pointer from Jason Kidd to
close out the game.

"We had the stops once again that we needed to have down the
stretch," coach Hamilton said. "We hit some shots, hit some free
throws and that allowed us to keep them at length."

Juwan Howard scored 21 points on 9-of-16 scoring and Hamilton
finished with 13 for the Wizards, who beat Phoenix at home for
the first time since January 4, 1998.

Whitney scored six of his 13 points in the final 27 seconds and
White contributed 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

"We are starting to enjoy being out there and being on the court
and playing. We look forward to our games," White said.

Phoenix endured its second straight miserable third quarter en
route to its second straight loss. The Suns scored just 13
points on 5-of 19 shooting and have shot 24 percent (9-of-37) in
their last two third quarters combined.

Phoenix went 1-5 on its road trip and fell to 1-6 since Kidd,
its All-Star guard, was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge
for striking his wife. Kidd missed the first four games of the
trip, opting to stay home to try and mend the relationship.

Kidd had 18 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in his second
game since rejoining the team.

Robinson scored 22 points for the second straight game and
Rogers added 19 for the Suns, whose last two losses have come to
teams with a combined record of 27-60.

"We just have to be men about it, look ourselves in the mirror
and do more," Phoenix guard Mario Elie said. "I'm 37 and I'm
leaving it out there on the floor. If we could all just give
maximum effort every night we could pull it off. We're in a rut
right now and we need to come out swinging."